Jet­skiers slammed

Jet­skiers in Welling­ton are be­ing crit­i­cised for go­ing too close to a pod of dolphins. About 30 or 40 dolphins swam around the wa­ters of the cap­i­tal on Satur­day, de­light­ing spec­ta­tors in Ori­en­tal Bay and Evans Bay. Local res­i­dent Mark Gee — an award-win­ning pho­tog­ra­pher — says there were a hun­dred or so peo­ple watch­ing. How­ever, the dolphins were dis­rupted by a pair of young men on a jet ski who “ploughed” through the pod, “ya­hoo­ing” as they did. A nearby boatie ap­peared to flag them down and give them a talk­ing to” — prompt­ing the jet­skiers to take off. Un­der the Marine Mam­mals Pro­tec­tion Act 1978. It’s an of­fence to ha­rass, dis­turb, in­jure or kill marine mam­mals. There’s a max­i­mum penalty of two years’ im­pris­on­ment or a fine up to $250,000.